Two Lucknow doctors among 4 in race for KGMU VC post

LUCKNOW: As race for the top post of prestigious King George’s Medical University (KGMU) hots up, a search committee has shortlisted four names to be finalised by Governor Anandiben Patel in a day or two.
The search committee, which met on July 26, has shortlisted the names of Prof Rakesh Malhotra, AIIMS, Delhi; Prof Sonia Nityanand, haematology department, SGPGI, Lucknow; Dr GP Singh, Pro-VC, KGMU, Lucknow, and Dr Vipin Puri, DG, AFMC, Pune. Prof Nityanand is also registrar of SGPGI.
The post of KGMU V-C has been lying vacant after the retirement of Prof M B Bhatt last month. The governor, the chancellor of state universities and appointing authority of vice-chancellors, is likely to select one of the four names shortlisted.
The search panel has forwarded the probables’ list to the governor for the second time as the governor had not found any candidate suitable for the post earlier.
Talking to TOI here on Wednesday, a highly placed source in Raj Bhawan said that over 200 candidates had applied for the second time. Out of them, the search panel has picked up four names and forwarded them for the governor’s consideration. “All of them are heavyweights in their fields,” he added.
The medical education department and the Raj Bhawan are determined for early selection of the KGMU VC as the varsity cannot be left headless for a long time. At present, the charge of KGMU has been handed over to director, SGPGI.